EV sales rebound in Germany as Chinese brands make inroads


By AFP
January 6, 2026


BYD cars on display at the Munich auto show. Chinese carmakers are making inroads in Germany - Copyright AFP/File Eric PIERMONT

Louis VAN BOXEL-WOOLF

Electric vehicle sales rebounded strongly in Germany in 2025, official data showed Tuesday, with Chinese manufacturers making inroads from a low base in the EU’s largest economy despite tariffs.

EV sales rose 43.2 percent last year to 545,142 in total, the KBA federal transport authority said, representing 19.1 percent of all new cars sold.

Chinese EV giant BYD — which last year overtook Elon Musk’s Tesla to become the world’s largest electric carmaker — saw its German sales rise over 700 percent to more than 23,000 cars, giving it 0.8 percent of the overall auto market.

“International vehicle manufacturers with affordable battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids have contributed disproportionately to growth in these segments,” said Imelda Labbe, head of the VDIK foreign carmakers’ lobby in Germany.

The European Union in 2024 introduced higher tariffs on Chinese-made electric cars, alleging that they benefitted from unfair subsidies.

That has not stopped sales of Chinese cars rising across the bloc, with the country’s carmakers keen to crack foreign markets amid cut-throat competition at home.



– Electric troubles –



Rising EV sales are also some rare good news for Germany’s beleaguered carmakers, which have invested heavily in the technology in recent years, and are seeking to comply with European Union environmental rules.

Though the European Commission in December proposed scrapping a planned 2035 ban on new combustion-engine vehicles, carmakers would still have to cut emissions by 90 percent from 2021 levels under its latest plan, and need to see dramatic sales growth.

The rise in EV sales last year comes after a fall of almost 30 percent in 2024 following the withdrawal of government subsidies, and Germany’s electric car market is still smaller than optimists had hoped for.

“We haven’t seen a real boom yet,” EY analyst Constantin Gall said.

“The hoped-for surge in e-mobility in Germany is proving to be much more protracted and difficult than expected.”

After the decline in the market in 2024, the government said in December it would introduce subsidies again.

Some motorists will be able to benefit from 5,000 euros ($5,855) for the purchase of new EVs or hybrids so long as their components are largely made in Germany.

But industry figures say that better charging infrastructure and cheaper power would be needed to really boost EVs and warned that the planned subsidy would have limited impact.

“The state subsidies will only be available to households on low and middle incomes,” Gall said. “But it is high-earners who tend to buy new electric cars.”



– Tricky times –



Weak sales at home have compounded the challenges facing Germany’s car industry.

It was already contending with the costs of investing in EVs and cratering sales in key market China even before US President Donald Trump last year slapped tariffs on cars and auto parts.

Volkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker, is in the process of cutting 35,000 jobs in Germany by 2030 under a deal reached with unions in a bid to slash costs.

Overall car sales in Germany rose just 1.4 percent last year to about 2.9 million vehicles, the KBA said — roughly 750,000 fewer than were sold in 2019 before the Covid pandemic and Germany’s economy sank into stagnation.

“The weak economy, increasing job insecurity and the multitude of political, social and economic crises are taking their toll,” Gall said.

Overseas scholars drawn to China’s scientific clout, funding


By AFP
January 6, 2026


Academics say China is becoming a popular destination for researchers to re-locate from overseas, especially at the start of their careers - Copyright AFP HECTOR RETAMAL

Jing Xuan TENG

China’s government has long made efforts to tempt top scientists from abroad, but researchers say its institutions themselves are increasingly attracting talent thanks to their generous funding and growing prestige.

State-backed initiatives like the Thousand Talents Plan have dangled fast-tracked hiring and bountiful grants to lure overseas experts in strategically important fields, as China and the United States vie for technological supremacy.

But academics told AFP the country is becoming a popular destination even among those not targeted by Beijing, especially at the start of their careers.

“You hear about these amazing advanced labs and the government providing money for things like AI and quantum research,” said Mejed Jebali, an artificial intelligence PhD candidate from Tunisia at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

“The scale of the research and how fast things get built is really amazing.”

China’s official enticements have typically targeted eminent researchers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields that could help Beijing achieve its goal of becoming the global leader in technology and innovation.

There is no official database of foreign or returnee scientists moving to China, but at least 20 prominent STEM experts have done so in the past year, according to university and personal announcements reviewed by AFP.

They included cancer expert Feng Gensheng, who left a tenured University of California role for Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, and German medical scientist Roland Eils, now part-time at Shanghai’s Fudan University.

“It appears that a significantly greater number of overseas scientists — particularly those of Chinese origin — have returned to work in China compared with around 10 years ago,” said Futao Huang, a professor at Japan’s Hiroshima University.



– More funding, resources, support –



Academics cited access to rapidly developing industries in China’s massive market as a draw.

Lingling Zhang, who joined the China Europe International Business School after two decades in the United States, told AFP she was drawn to more “pragmatic” research.

She said career considerations drove her decision more than the specific prospect of moving back to China.

“I actually have great access to a large number of entrepreneurs and business people,” she said.

The pace of industrial development means more opportunities for “academically grounded but application-oriented research”, said a materials scientist who moved to China from a European university, who asked to remain anonymous.

“The quality of papers produced by top Chinese institutions today is in no way inferior to that of leading US or European universities, and in some areas is highly competitive or even leading,” he said.

China’s reputation for academic prowess in many fields has become undeniable. Four of the top five leading research institutions in natural and health sciences in 2025 were Chinese, according to an index by the journal Nature.

That is a change from the past, when US and European institutions held sway.

“I wouldn’t have done it 15 years ago,” said Jason Chapman, a world expert on insect migration, on his recent long-term secondment to Nanjing Agricultural University.

But in the last five years, “the funding, resources and support” available — far more than overseas — changed the calculus.



– Cultural divide –



For academics of Chinese descent working in the United States, there are push factors, Hiroshima University’s Huang said.

“The tightening of research security regulations, visa scrutiny, and political sensitivities in the United States has created uncertainty.”

A 2023 study found that following a 2018 Trump administration policy to investigate potential Chinese spies in research, departures of China-born, US-based scientists increased by 75 percent.

But challenges remain for those who relocate to China.

Huang pointed to concerns over academic freedom and autonomy, and “geopolitical uncertainties that influence international perception and mobility decisions”.

China tightly controls the flow of sensitive information — for example, a European natural scientist told AFP he could not collaborate with Chinese institutes linked with military research due to the potential political sensitivity.

Markku Larjavaara, a Finnish forestry expert who until recently worked at Peking University, said he did not feel that censorship was a major issue in his field.

But he grew uncomfortable with Beijing’s political climate after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, due to China’s close relationship with Moscow.

Interviewees also described having to overcome cultural differences.

The materials scientist said it took time to adjust to a Chinese academic environment that emphasised personal relationships and social interaction, compared to a Western environment “where processes tend to be more impersonal and rule-based”.

Still, “for young faculty who are motivated to build a research programme and make tangible progress, returning (or moving) to China is a very reasonable — and in many cases attractive — option”, he said.

US oil giant Chevron interested in Russian Lukoil’s foreign assets: report

By AFP
January 7, 2026


The US oil giant is said to have partnered with Quantum Capital Group on the bid, according to the Financial Times - Copyright AFP RONALDO SCHEMIDT

US oil giant Chevron and private equity firm Quantum Capital Group have partnered on a bid for sanctioned Russian oil company Lukoil’s international assets, valued at $22 billion, the Financial Times reported Wednesday.

The offer targets Lukoil’s entire non-Russian portfolio, including oil and gas production, refining facilities and over 2,000 filling stations spanning Europe, Asia and the Middle East, according to people familiar with the matter cited by the FT.

If successful, Chevron and Quantum would divide the assets between them and commit to long-term ownership and operation, a pledge expected to appeal to the administration of US President Donald Trump, the report said.

The bid is led by Quantum, working with its London-based portfolio company Artemis Energy. The offer price was not immediately available, the FT reported.

The report added that Lukoil’s foreign assets had also whetted the appetite of US investment company Carlyle and Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund IHC.

Swiss energy trading company Gunvor withdrew its takeover bid after being labeled a front for the Kremlin by Washington in November.

Contacted by AFP, Quantum and Chevron did not immediately respond with comment.

At the end of October 2025, in order to put pressure on Russia in its war with Ukraine, the United States added Russia’s two largest oil producers, Lukoil and Rosneft, to its blacklist of sanctioned entities.

Companies working with the Russian giants risk secondary sanctions, which would deny access to US banks, traders, transporters, and insurers.

On December 4, the US government suspended some of the sanctions against Lukoil to allow gas stations outside Russia to continue operating. This exemption runs until April 29.

A few days later, on December 10, Washington gave foreign investors permission to negotiate the purchase of Lukoil’s assets abroad without risking US reprisals.

This permission expires on January 17.

Australia heatwave stokes risk of catastrophic bushfires


By AFP
January 7, 2026


A bushfire burning near the town of Longwood, northern Victoria on January 7, 2026 - Copyright AFP Kerem YUCEL

Steven TRASK

Firefighters warned millions of Australians of “catastrophic” bushfire dangers on Thursday as they battled multiple blazes stoked by a heatwave blanketing the country.

Temperatures are forecast to soar past 40C in parts of southeast Australia, fuelling some of the most dangerous bushfire conditions since the “Black Summer” blazes of 2019-2020.

Country Fire Authority chief officer Jason Heffernan said the fire danger rating in some parts of Victoria state would reach “catastrophic”.

“Catastrophic is as bad as it gets,” he told reporters.

“It is the most dangerous fire conditions you can expect — when a fire starts, takes hold and spreads.

“The decisions you make will affect your life and the lives of your family.”

Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebush said hot and dry winds would fan bushfires that were “unpredictable, uncontrollable, and fast moving”.

Acting Victoria state premier Ben Carroll urged people to prepare evacuation plans.

“You do not know until you are surrounded by fire how loud it is, how smoky, how stressful,” he told reporters.

“It is a scary environment that no one should have to go through.”

Firefighters are already trying to contain blazes dotted across the states of Victoria and New South Wales.

– Baby bats –

Millions of people across Australia’s two most populous states have been warned to remain on high alert, including in major cities Sydney and Melbourne.

Authorities fear a small number of properties have been destroyed near the rural town of Longwood, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Victoria’s capital Melbourne.

Government forecaster Sarah Scully said a band of “extreme” heat had settled across the country.

“There’s also dry thunderstorms forecast across Victoria and southern New South Wales,” she said.

“Those dry thunderstorms have very little rainfall in them, but they can ignite new fires.”

Hundreds of baby bats died earlier this week as stifling temperatures hit the state of South Australia, a local wildlife group said.

The “Black Summer” bushfires raged across Australia’s eastern seaboard from late 2019 to early 2020, razing millions of hectares, destroying thousands of homes and blanketing cities in noxious smoke.

Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.51C since 1910, researchers have found, fuelling increasingly frequent extreme weather patterns over both land and sea.

Australia remains one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of gas and coal, two key fossil fuels that are blamed for global heating.

Cambodia to liquidate bank founded by accused scam boss


By AFP
January 8, 2026


Motorists ride past the Prince Group Headquarters in Phnom Penh - Copyright AFP Thomas SAMSON

Suy SE

A Cambodian bank founded by accused scam boss Chen Zhi, who has been indicted by the United States over multibillion-dollar fraud and extradited to China, was ordered liquidated Thursday, Cambodia’s central bank said.

Prince Bank “has been placed under liquidation in accordance with the laws” of the country, the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) said in a statement.

Prince Bank has been “suspended from providing new banking services, including accepting deposits and providing credit”, it added.

The NBC said it had appointed auditor Morisonkak MKA as the liquidator.

Prince Bank is a subsidiary of Chen’s Prince Holding Group, one of Cambodia’s largest conglomerates, which Washington has said served as a front for “one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organizations”.

Customers who have deposits at Prince Bank “can withdraw money normally by preparing documents for withdrawal”, and borrowers “must continue to fulfill their obligations as normal”, the NBC added.

Outside a Prince Bank location in the capital Phnom Penh, among 36 branches nationwide, an AFP journalist did not see any customers on Thursday morning.

The bank has about a billion dollars in assets under management, according to its website.



– ‘Building pressure’ –



Chinese-born Chen was sanctioned by Washington and London in October for directing alleged cyberfraud run by hundreds of scammers trafficked into compounds in Cambodia.

Cambodian authorities said they arrested Chen and two other Chinese nationals and extradited them to China on Tuesday.

The operation was carried out according to a request from Chinese authorities following months of “investigative cooperation”, Cambodia’s interior ministry said.

Chinese authorities have not commented on Chen’s arrest since it was announced on Wednesday.

The US Justice Department declined to comment on Wednesday.

“This arrest comes after months of building pressure against the Cambodian government for continuing to harbor and abet a now famous criminal actor,” said Jacob Daniel Sims, a transnational crime expert and visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Asia Center.

The “vast majority” of the dozens of scam compounds in Cambodia operated with “strong support” from the government, Sims told AFP, adding that a change in status quo could only happen if international pressure on the nation’s “scam-invested oligarchs” was sustained.

Cambodian officials deny allegations of government involvement and say authorities are cracking down.

But Amnesty International said last year that rights abuses in scam hubs were happening on a “mass scale”, and the government’s poor response suggested its complicity.

Chen faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted in the United States on wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges involving approximately 127,271 bitcoin seized by the United States, worth more than $11 billion at current prices.

Prince Group has denied the allegations.

– Former adviser –



US prosecutors in October unsealed an indictment accusing Chen of presiding over compounds in Cambodia where trafficked workers carried out cryptocurrency fraud schemes that netted billions.

Victims were targeted through so-called “pig butchering” scams — investment schemes that build trust over time before stealing funds.

The operations have caused billions in global losses.

Scam centres across Cambodia, Myanmar and the region lure foreign nationals — many Chinese — with fake job ads, then force them under threat of violence to commit online fraud.

Amnesty International has identified at least 53 scam compounds in Cambodia alone, where rights groups say criminal networks perpetrate human trafficking, forced labour, torture and slavery.

Experts estimate tens of thousands of people work in the multibillion-dollar industry, some willingly and others trafficked.

Since around 2015, Prince Group has operated across more than 30 countries under the guise of legitimate real estate, financial services and consumer businesses, US prosecutors have said.

Chen and top executives allegedly used political influence and bribed officials in multiple countries to shield illicit operations.

In Cambodia, Chen served as an adviser to Prime Minister Hun Manet and his father, former leader Hun Sen.

His Cambodian nationality was revoked in December, the interior ministry said.

Nobel laureate Bialiatski tells AFP ‘important’ to keep pressure on Belarus


By AFP
January 8, 2026


During his visit to the Nobel foundation's headquarters Bialiatski signed the guest book - Copyright AFP Jonathan NACKSTRAND

Nobel winner and Belarusian dissident Ales Bialiatski told AFP on Thursday that it was “very important” to keep up pressure on Belarus in order to free political prisoners after his first meeting with the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Bialiatski, 63, was released on December 13, following a deal between Minsk and Washington, that included, among other things, the United States lifting certain economic sanctions on Belarus.

“We very much hope and expect that the process of releasing political prisoners will continue,” Bialiatski told AFP in Oslo after meeting the committee which awarded him the peace prize back in 2022.

“Right now, this is probably the most important problem for us. Human rights defenders, journalists and rights activists are still in jail,” Bialiatski said.

“That’s why it’s very important to keep up the pressure on the Belarusian government, on Lukashenko, so that all political prisoners are freed,” he added.

Bialiatski founded the human rights watchdog Viasna and has spent decades documenting rights abuses in Belarus.

President Alexander Lukashenko, in power since 1994, considers him a personal enemy.

He was in custody when he was awarded the Peace Prize in 2022, a few months after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, alongside Russia’s Memorial and Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties.

At the award ceremony in Oslo, he was represented by his wife Natalia Pinchuk.

While visiting Oslo, where his wife now lives, Bialiatski met the five members of the Nobel Committee for the first time and was presented with a Nobel diploma.

“I was very surprised when I learned I had received the prize. I didn’t think it was possible,” he said via an interpreter.

“I knew my name was on the list of nominees, but since there were so many other candidates, such deserving people, I never thought it could happen to me,” he added.

According to Viasna there are currently more than 1,100 political prisoners in Belarus.

Lenovo unveils AI agent to bridge PCs, phones and wearables at CES

ByAFP
January 8, 2026


Attendees gather for the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 6, 2026 - Copyright AFP Caroline Brehman

Lenovo, the world’s top PC maker, unveiled its own AI assistant Tuesday at the CES tech show in Las Vegas, promising a tool that follows users seamlessly across laptops, smartphones and connected devices.

The Beijing-based company commanded 28 percent of global PC market share in the third quarter of 2025, ahead of rivals HP at 21.5 percent and Dell at 14.5 percent, according to US research firm Gartner.

Lenovo’s new artificial intelligence agent, dubbed Qira, is designed as an autonomous interface capable of performing tasks rather than simply generating content on demand, a move Lenovo hopes will showcase the breadth of its product portfolio.

Unlike rivals focused on single categories, Lenovo was the only major manufacturer whose offering spanned laptops, tablets and smartphones — under its Motorola brand, acquired in 2014 — as well as servers and even supercomputers.

The company also unveiled prototypes of connected glasses and an AI-powered pendant, still in testing, that captures “important moments” with user consent by recording conversations, said Motorola’s Angelina Gomez.

Codenamed the AI Perceptive Companion, the pendant features a microphone and camera and “sees what you see and hears what your hear,” Lenovo vice president Luca Rossi told reporters.

An interaction with Qira can start via the pendant, continue on a smartphone and end on a laptop, with the agent retaining user context across devices.

It can summarize the highlights of a user’s day, draft and send emails, or even select photos from archives to post on social media.

Lenovo stressed it is not positioning Qira as a rival to Microsoft’s Copilot and announced the integration of Copilot into Motorola smartphones.

For major hardware makers, the challenge now is proving the utility of generative AI in everyday applications rather than simply flaunting cutting-edge tech.

Amid lingering geopolitical tensions with Washington, Lenovo was the only Chinese firm to take center stage at CES, choosing Las Vegas’s futuristic Sphere venue for its showcase.

Executives emphasized the company’s global footprint, with most revenue generated outside China and several top managers from overseas.

Dancing isn’t enough: industry pushes for practical robots

By AFP
January 8, 2026


EngineAI founder Evan Yao says the China-based maker of humanoid robots is working with US tech titans such as Amazon and Meta on giving them AI brains - Copyright AFP Patrick T. Fallon
Glenn CHAPMAN

Humanoid robots danced, somersaulted, dealt blackjack and played ping-pong at the Consumer Electronics Show this week, but some in the industry are impatient for them to become more useful, not just a promise of things to come.

As robots take their usual spotlight at the annual CES gadget fest, insiders caution that making them truly like humans will take several more years and require lots of training.

To become autonomous, humanoid robots need AI that translates what is seen and heard into actions, which is beyond the scope of today’s large language models that power tools like ChatGPT.

Training a large language model relies on massive amounts of data — mainly vacuumed up from the internet — that is of little use when it comes to human-like robots seeking to be useful in the kitchen or on a factory floor.

“If you want (robots) to learn embodied things, you have to put them inside a body,” said Henny Admoni, an associate professor at the robotics institute at Carnegie Mellon University.

Humanoid Guide founder Christian Rokseth, who specializes in the technology, likened the situation to locking a child in a room and expecting it to learn about the world.

Even if the pace of development accelerated last year, particularly on the hardware side, Rokseth expressed a degree of impatience about innovation.

“They’ve shown robots dancing and doing kung fu; now show us that they can be productive,” Rokseth said.

EngineAI founder Evan Yao told AFP that the Shenzhen-based company is working with tech titans such as Amazon and Meta to give its creations AI brains.

“We are trying to simulate humans, but the robots will never become human,” Yao told AFP as one of his robots kicked in his direction.

“Because a human is emotional and much more.”

Nearby, Yiran Sui was part of a Robotera team whose humanoid robot, developed for researchers, is training to complete the Beijing marathon a few months from now.

– Factories first? –

According to the Consumer Technology Association that runs CES, the robotics industry is showing dynamism and potential.

It projects the global market will hit $179 billion by 2030.

The bulk of that growth is expected in factories, warehouses and other business operations, where robots — not necessarily humanoid ones — work in controlled environments.

But for Artem Sokolov, founder of the Humanoid robotics startup based in London, humans work in factories so robots copying their bodies can thrive there too.

South Korean automotive giant Hyundai used CES to unveil a humanoid robot called Atlas, created in collaboration with Boston Dynamics, that it plans to test in factories.

Given the training limitations, industry trackers advise caution when it comes to companies claiming to have humanoid robots that can operate without flesh-and-blood managers overseeing them.

“There has been a ton of new companies claiming that they are developing autonomous humanoid robots,” Admoni told AFP.

But “these systems tend to be teleoperated; you have a person in a suit or using controllers and every movement of that person is then translated into the robot.”

To solve the training problem, new startups are using methods such as having people wear cameras and haptic gloves while doing chores at home, according to Rokseth.

“To make robots general machines, they need to be let out in the real world,” Rokseth said, not just assembly lines or warehouses.

Nvidia CEO praises robots as ‘AI immigrants’


By AFP
January 7, 2026


Tech firms were boosted by forecast-topping earnings from chip titan Nvidia - Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP JUSTIN SULLIVAN

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang described robots as “AI immigrants” on Tuesday, arguing they could solve a global labor shortage that is hampering manufacturing.

Addressing concerns about machines replacing human workers, the leader of the world’s dominant AI chip company took the opposite stance.

“Having robots will create jobs,” Huang told 200 journalists and analysts during a 90-minute session at a Las Vegas hotel on the sidelines of the CES technology show.

“We need more AI immigrants to help us on manufacturing floors and do work that maybe we’ve decided not to do anymore,” said Huang, whose off-the-cuff remarks have become a popular CES tradition.

The gathering runs through Friday, with some 130,000 attendees.

Like every year, robots are a major presence at CES, with companies hoping they will break into the mainstream as useful devices instead of novelties.

A “robotics revolution” will compensate for labor losses from aging populations and demographic decline while boosting the economy, Huang argued.

“When the economy grows, we hire more people,” he said, sporting his signature black leather jacket.

Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang speaks at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas, Nevada – Copyright AFP Patrick T. Fallon

Huang, who leads the world’s most valuable company at roughly $3.5 trillion, estimated the worker shortage reaches “tens of millions,” not thousands, due to demographic shifts.

His comments align with other Silicon Valley leaders, particularly Tesla and SpaceX’s Elon Musk, who frequently cite population decline and workforce aging as reasons to embrace automation.

Nvidia is investing heavily in providing the foundational software that can make robots work across multiple industries, including manufacturing, retail, and healthcare

Humanoid robotics: A bubble set to burst?

By Dr. Tim Sandle

SCIENCE EDITOR

DIGITAL JOURNAL
January 5, 2026


A man works on the electronics of Jules, a humanoid robot from Hanson Robotics using AI, at the recent International Telecommunication Union AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva - Copyright AFP/File Valentin FLAURAUD

The latest investment data shows that investor interest in humanoid robotics is accelerating rapidly within the broader AI market. According to some analysts, however, much of this momentum is being driven by hype rather than commercial readiness, raising concerns that humanoid robotics could become AI’s next bubble.

That many humanoid robotics companies face fundamental challenges with cost and reliability that will not be solved any time soon is reflected in a report by CB Insights.

Recent major venture capital (VC) reports from KPMG and PitchBook confirm that AI remains in the lead, accounting for more than half of all investments this year. Given that the AI market is shifting rapidly toward industrial humanoid robotics, there is a risk that the flood of AI capital is pushing robotics toward a speculative zone, with too many startups promising breakthroughs without commercial evidence.

The reason for this interest is because AI gives humanoids a commercial potential that was previously not possible.

In the U.S., during the last quarter of 2025, industrial humanoid robotics captured 17 deals – the most of any category. AI was still the primary destination for investors, split into several categories, such as coding AI agents and copilots (14 deals), end-to-end software development AI agents (12), and others.

According to Daiva Rakauskaitė, the partner and manager of Aneli Capital, there are strong similarities between today’s AI-driven investment boom and the dotcom bubble in the early 2000s, leaving many startups exposed.

Rakauskaitė tells Digital Journal she expects the AI bubble to burst in 2-3 years: “Many AI startups that can’t yet generate revenue will fail, but we’re reaching a consensus on that in the market. While the same risks persist in humanoid robotics, many investors tend to overlook this.”

Rakauskaitė adds: “However, it is important to distinguish robotics from humanoid robotics; industrial and logistics robots already generate revenue and can deliver measurable results, while humanoids can’t yet prove their commercial value.”

Currently, companies around the world demonstrate prototypes of robots performing actions from running to boxing, sparking interest from users and investors. However, in the real world, they have few practical commercial applications.

Similar challenges also persist for industrial humanoid robotics. These companies face challenges with inference (ability to make decisions in real time), dexterity (how well the robot can physically handle things), reliability, and cost, which limit the initial use cases to factories and warehouses with predictable sets of tasks.

According to Rakauskaitė, especially now, when investments are driven by hype, venture capitalists should not forget the fundamentals and prioritize revenue-first philosophy, where real money matters more than growth at all costs.

“Investments in robotics and AI are crucial for the future development of humanity. But investors should remain disciplined and back companies that have realistic goals based on economics, not hype. From day one, startups should aim for early revenue streams through licensing, partnerships and have a clear model of monetization in the near future. The same revenue-first philosophy can be applied to any field,” Rakauskaitė explains.

Despite early signs of a bubble in humanoid robotics, she remains confident in the broader robotics sector, where cheaper hardware and rapid advances in AI are accelerating real-world deployment.

The Bright Side: Fossils found in Morocco shed light on humanity's African roots

Fossils of archaic humans found in a cave in Casablanca are helping to fill a gap in the history of humanity's evolutionary lineage, with researchers saying they may represent a population that existed shortly before Homo sapiens populated Africa.


Issued on: 07/01/2026 
By: FRANCE 24

The 773,000-year-old mandible ThI-GH-10717 from Thomas Quarry in Morocco. © Hamza Mehimdate, Programme préhistoire de Casablanca via AFP

Fossilised bones and teeth dating to 773,000 years ago, unearthed in a Moroccan cave, ⁠are providing a deeper understanding of the emergence of Homo sapiens in Africa, representing the remains of archaic humans who may have been close ancestors of our species.

Researchers said the fossils – lower jawbones of two adults and a toddler, as well as teeth, a thigh bone and some vertebrae – were unearthed in a cave called Grotte à Hominidés ​at a site in the city of Casablanca. The cave appears to have been a den for predators, with the thigh bone bearing bite marks ‍suggesting the person may have been hunted or scavenged by a hyena.

The researchers said the most appropriate interpretation is that these fossils represent an evolved form of the archaic human species Homo erectus, which first appeared about 1.9 million years ago ​in Africa and later spread to Eurasia.

The bones and teeth display a mix of primitive and more modern human characteristics. They ​fill a gap in the African fossil record of species in the human evolutionary lineage – called hominins – from about one million to 600,000 years ago.


According to the researchers, the fossils may represent an African population that existed shortly before the evolutionary split of the lineages that led to Homo sapiens in Africa and two closely related hominins – the Neanderthals and Denisovans – that inhabited Eurasia.

"I would be cautious about labeling them as 'the last common ancestor', but they are plausibly close to the populations from which later African – Homo sapiens – and Eurasian – Neanderthal and Denisovan – lineages ultimately emerged," said paleoanthropologist Jean-Jacques Hublin of Collège de France in Paris and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, lead author of the study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.

"The fossils show a mosaic of primitive and derived ‍traits, consistent with evolutionary differentiation already underway during this period, while reinforcing a deep African ancestry for the Homo sapiens lineage," Hublin added.

The oldest-known fossils of Homo sapiens, dating to about 315,000 years ago, were also found in Morocco, at an archaeological ​site called Jebel Irhoud.

Knowing the age of the Grotte à Hominidés fossils, based on the magnetic signature of cave sediments surrounding the fossils, helped the researchers assess how this population fit into the human family tree.

"Establishing the age was essential to the interpretation of this material," Hublin added.

The fossils were buried by fine sediments ‌over time and the cave entrance was sealed by a dune, enabling exceptional preservation of the remains. Hundreds of stone artefacts and thousands of animal bones were also discovered in the cave.

The Grotte à Hominidés human fossils are roughly the same age as fossils from a site ‍called Gran Dolina near Atapuerca in Spain that represent an archaic human species called Homo antecessor. In fact, these fossils share some traits.

"The similarities between Gran Dolina and Grotte à Hominidés are intriguing and may reflect intermittent connections across the Strait of Gibraltar, a hypothesis that deserves further investigation," Hublin said.

Hominins from this time possessed body proportions similar to ours but with smaller brains.

The jawbone, or mandible, of the Grotte à Hominidés child, who was about 1-1/2 years old, was complete, while the mandible of one of the adults was nearly complete and the other was partial. One of the adult jawbones was built more robustly than the other, suggesting one was from a man and the other from a woman. The largest of the fossils was the adult thigh bone, ‍or femur.

These people were capable of hunting prey but roamed a dangerous landscape and sometimes found themselves as the hunted, with large carnivores, including big cats and hyenas, on the prowl.

"Only the femur displays clear evidence ‌of carnivore modification – gnawing and tooth ​marks – indicating consumption by a large carnivore. However, the cave appears primarily to have been a carnivore den that hominins used only occasionally. The absence of tooth marks on the mandibles does not imply that other parts of the bodies were not consumed by hyenas or other carnivores," Hublin said.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)

Watchdog Demands to Know If Trump Admin Colluded With Big Oil in Lead-Up to Venezuela Attack

“When government actions tied to foreign resources are preceded and followed by closed-door meetings with the world’s largest oil companies, transparency is not optional—it is essential.”

General view of ‘El Palito’ refinery building at dusk during a walk around the outskirts of ‘El Palito’ refinery on December 18, 2025, in Puerto Cabello, Venezuela.
(Photo by Jesus Vargas/Getty Images)

Stephen Prager
Jan 07, 2026
COMMON DREAMS


A legal watchdog group is demanding information about the extent to which the Trump administration planned its attack on Venezuela last weekend with American oil companies, which are expected to profit royally from the takeover of the South American nation’s oil reserves.

The group Democracy Forward filed a series of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on Monday seeking records and information about the role of US oil companies in the planning of the attack, which killed an estimated 75 people and led to the US military’s abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.


President Donald Trump did not inform Congress of the operation, which is required under the War Powers Act of 1973, but he told reporters on Sunday that he’d tipped off oil company executives both “before and after” the strike.

According to reporting by the Wall Street Journal, he informed executives roughly a month before the strike to “get ready” because big changes were coming to the country, which had long held state control over the largest oil reserves in the world.

Since toppling Maduro, in an operation that international law experts have widely described as illegal, Trump has said his goal is to “get the oil flowing” to American oil companies to start “taking a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground.”

On Tuesday, Trump said Venezuela’s interim leaders—who he’s threatened with more attacks if they don’t do what he says—have agreed to hand over 30-50 million barrels of oil to be sold by the US, which will control how the profits are dispersed.

Trump and several members of his Cabinet, including Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, are expected to meet with oil executives on Friday at the White House to discuss “security guarantees” for their new spoils.

Democracy Forward has requested information about communications between senior officials at the US departments of Energy and the Interior and executives at top oil companies, including Chevron, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips, prior to the attack. This includes emails, attachments, and calendar invitations exchanged since December 2025.

The group has said it will seek to determine whether these companies were given “privileged access or influence” over the administration’s policy toward Venezuela.

“The president couldn’t find time to brief members of Congress before kidnapping a foreign head of state, but appears to have prioritized discussions with Big Oil. When government actions tied to foreign resources are preceded and followed by closed-door meetings with the world’s largest oil companies, transparency is not optional—it is essential,” said Skye Perryman, the president and CEO of Democracy Forward. “The public deserves to know what interests are shaping decisions that have enormous consequences for global energy markets and democratic accountability.”

FOIA, which was passed in 1967, allows members of the public to request records from any federal agency. However, agencies have broad discretion to deny FOIA requests, including in cases involving national security or interagency communications.

Indefinite U.S. Control of Venezuelan Oil Could Benefit Tankers, Traders

Courtesy PDVSA

Published Jan 7, 2026 7:42 PM by The Maritime Executive

Following the removal of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, the Trump administration plans to oversee the country's oil exports, and will take delivery of 30-50 million barrels as a starting point. That initial consignment is just the start, though, and the oil export management arrangement will continue indefinitely, sources at the White House confirmed to CNBC. 

"We are going to market the crude coming out of Venezuela, first this backed up stored oil, and then infinitely, going forward, we will sell the production that comes out of Venezuela into the marketplace," energy secretary Chris Wright told an audience at the Goldman Sachs energy conference in Miami, per Bloomberg. 

In the long run, the objective is to foster conditions that would be favorable to U.S. energy sector investment, he said. But in the short run, the concept is to stabilize PDVSA's existing state-owned oil production, supply PDVSA with U.S.-produced diluents for reducing the heavy crude's viscosity, reboot imports of spare oilfield parts and services, and take control of all Venezuelan oil exports.

The marketing arrangement will begin with Venezuela's stored crude, including onshore storage tank capacity and floating storage (laden tankers). It will continue indefinitely with ongoing production, Wright said. 

In a statement Wednesday, Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA acknowledged that amidst current "challenges," it is negotiating the sale of its oil with the United States "under clear commercial schemes and shared benefits."

Vice President JD Vance told Fox News that the U.S. will also be exerting political control over the Venezuelan government by keeping a grip on its oil exports. "The way that we control Venezuela is we control the purse strings, we control the energy resources, and we tell the regime, 'you’re allowed to sell the oil, so long as you serve America’s national interest,'" Vance said. 

Reputable tanker companies stand to benefit from this new arrangement, which will add more ton-miles for reputationally "clean," unsanctioned vessels that are not associated with the shadow fleet. Previously, a large share of Venezuela's long-haul oil exports shipped aboard gray-market vessels with questionable histories, some listed on the U.S. Treasury blacklist. A U.S.-managed Venezuelan oil sector would likely mean the disappearance of shadow fleet tonnage from Venezuela's loading terminals, replaced by new demand for above-board tankers. 

Tanker stocks soared on the news, buoyed by the prospect of changing trade patterns and the demonstrated U.S. resolve to seize shadow-fleet tonnage. Scorpio Tankers and CMB.Tech went up eight percent, Teekay and DHT went up nine percent, and Frontline jumped nearly 10 percent. 

Oil traders are also showing an interest in the prospects of a reshuffle in trade. Trafigura oil chief Ben Luckock told Bloomberg News that his company was interested in the  opportunities in Venezuela, and that it would be talking with the U.S. government about cooperation - once a proper legal framework is in place for the work, as well as the appropriate security measures for foreign nationals on the ground. 

The work of trading and trade financing has already begun, according to the U.S. Energy Department. In a statement Wednesday, it said that it has "engaged the world’s leading commodity marketers and key banks to execute and provide financial support for these crude oil and crude products sales."